Raven stared with widened eyes at the words on the magic panels in front of him, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly almost like he was a small fish in water.
Apparently, he was in deep shock which luckily just lasted for a few seconds before he snapped out of it and quickly placed both palms on each of his cheeks and started to feel his skin. He even lowered his gaze to check on his legs, and to his greatest astonishment but at the same time confusion they were there just in one piece!
"...Magic," Raven mumbled as he slowly stood up and watched how he could stand and even walk as if everything he has just done was a bad dream!
He tried to ask and find answers to his questions at the same time, but as it seemed that his brain was incapable of processing all the current information that flooded his head, he failed.
He was so confused that for a second he even suspected that he had really died and now was in the afterlife. After all, who would not think about such a thing after witnessing how everything below their abdomen became a meat paste and how their blood flowed out of their body like a river!
Unfortunately, however, when Raven bit his finger and felt the piercing but way too real pain he had to realize he, ironically, was not at all in the afterlife.
"But then... what happened with me?" calming down and accepting that through some miracle he indeed survived and was alive, Raven chose to collect his rewards later and decided to look around.
Currently, the scenery around him was the exact same as before the Realm Game named Hide or Die started. It was the Empty World as the deity called it.
Whoosh!
"Hm?"
As Raven was observing his surroundings in the hope to spot something or someone, suddenly a gentle breeze swept past his face, and out of nowhere, a figure appeared not so far away from him, someone he immediately recognized.
"Felix!" Raven exclaimed out loud, but even before he had the chance to take even a step forward another breeze hit him on his face, pulling another individual into sight out of thin air.
Then shortly after that another...
And another one...
And another...
100... 300... 800... 1,100... 10,700... 400,000... 1,000,000!
In a matter of half a minute, Raven watched with a dumbfounded complexion how over a million individuals, each of them being humans popped out of nowhere, each differing in gender, age, race, and appearance!
And what was the most shocking part was that despite over a million people appearing in less than half a minute, the numbers kept increasing without any sign of slowing down much less stopping!
No, the greatest shock for Raven was that among the sea of humans that appeared, close to him he could recognize faces that according to his memory should have been dead!
There was the bulky guy that at the start of the game was instantly killed by the creature, yet here he was, looking left and right with a confused gaze!
There was even the little girl a few meters away from him whose head had been severed in a single second, now hugging her friend while crying!
"What the actual hell is going on here? Where are we now?"
"Joe! You fricking bastard! Haha! I knew you were alive! Someone who survived getting hit by a truck twice definitely cannot be killed that easily!"
"Karen! Oh, now you are screwed bitch! Let's see where you will run now! There is no one this time you can use to save your fat ass!"
"Mama!!"
Confusion, tears of joy to see the believed lost loved ones once again, thirst for revenge for the experienced betrayal from the past, hatred, relief, fear, and all kinds of other emotions broke out from the people around Raven in just a finger snap!
Some people hugged each other while shedding tears of elation. Some chased others with deep hatred and even killing intent in their eyes. There were even a few that became so confused that they either started to laugh like maniacs or slapped their heads as if that would help them wake up from a bad dream!
"Well, this is indeed something I have failed to foresee." walking beside Raven and looking at the sea of people around him which seemingly had no end even behind the horizon, Felix sighed gently and shook his head.
"I don't think you are the only one thinking that." Raven agreed with a small nod while his gaze kept sweeping at the faces of the people around him.
Felix gave a sideways glance at Raven and after pondering for a second or two which also carried a mysterious glint in his eyes he looked straight ahead and asked, "You are looking for someone, right? A friend perhaps? No, your face is filled with too much concern, it must be someone very dear to you. Your father then?"
"Huh? How did you...?"
"Body language tells quite a lot about a person." Felix shrugged and was ready to open his mouth to keep speaking when suddenly a young feminine voice swept through the air forcing him to stiffen and stay silent.
And it was not only him. Everyone, including Raven, who heard the voice froze and became motionless in a split instant, almost as if a spell had been cast on their bodies!
"Okay everyone~! Let's calm down for a moment, shall we?"
Once those words reached everyone's ear and made everybody remain silent, the voice let out a satisfied hum.
"Great, great! This is what I like to see, obedient and silent. Well then, let me not waste your precious time and let me briefly explain everything, like starting with me!"
As the voice reached that point with her speech, a magic panel appeared before everyone with a single name presented on it.
[Etia.]
"As you all can see, that is my name. However, let me tell all of you this. Anyone who dares to speak my name out loud without any Celestial God blood flowing through their veins or got no permission to say it will end up dead in three seconds."
And as if fate wished to show a demonstration, several individuals, who were either used to reading words aloud or simply were simply retard to believe Etia's words after all the things they went through, spoke her name for all to hear!
And just as Etia explained, soon several thousands of people fell onto the ground in a way a lifeless doll would, blood flowing out all of their orifices and holes, even from the ones at their bottom!
"Phew... That was close, buddy. You have almost died there." Felix let out a sigh of relief as he withdrew his palm from before Raven's mouth who was obviously ready to speak Etia's name out loud!
Cold, bean-sized sweat flowed down Raven's forehead when he heard Felix's words, and once no hand was blocking his mouth he swallowed nervously.
Just now, he almost spoke Etia's name unconsciously! If it were not for Felix's help at the very last second, he would have met a really ugly fate real fast!
"T-Thank you..." speaking quietly, Raven wiped the sweat away from his forehead and thanked Felix.
"It is nothing," Felix shook his head before adding, "Though, I can't decide whether you are extremely lucky or insanely unfortunate."
Raven smiled bitterly at that as slowly he couldn't determine either which it was.
His luck was still as bad as it was in the past, but now in the past one hour, three huge miracles happened to him which was new and even felt weird.
In the past, he was already happy if he had a little bit of luck once in a month and a bigger one in a year, much less three huge miracles and under the same hour!
Therefore, instead of being happy, he was not. For some reason, he felt spooked and couldn't erase the weird sensation from his chest that something was not right.